The UFC has long made a show of what on the surface would appear to be predominantly a formality… the weigh-ins.

UFC president Dana White would greatly beg to differ, saying that the weigh-ins and the ensuing staredowns are one the most important tells of how the fight will go down.

“I am such a huge fan of the staredown,” said White at the recent UFC Fan Expo. “And, yes, it is one of the most important things leading up to the fight.

“The two things I love the most in the fight business are the staredown and the fight itself.”

White doesn’t just love the staredown because he’s a fight fan – although he is a huge fight fan – and gets to stand on stage with the fighters in the final moments they spend together before they throw down the next day. He believes that you can tell a great deal about a fighter by how they look and act during the staredown and weigh-in.

“That’s why we ended up making the weigh-ins such a big deal,” White proclaimed. “Because leading up to the fight, the weigh-ins and the staredown tell the story of what’s going to happen on Saturday.

“Is the guy on weight? Is he in shape? Did he cut right? What does he look like in the staredown? Does he look too drawn and dried out and did he cut too much weight? All that stuff is important to the fight the next day and I love it more than anything.”

The UFC 162 main event weigh-in and staredown between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman certainly told a story leading up to Weidman’s momentous upset of Silva on July 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The two went face to face, almost looking as if they were kissing, before White separated them.

White later tweeted that Weidman said to Silva, “I’m not afraid of you like everyone else,” while Silva responded, “We will see tomorrow.”

Boxer Andre Berto has made a plea to UFC president Dana White to get in touch with him about a potential crossover to MMA. Berto, who fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2015, made it clear to TMZ he feelread news >>